DUBSTEP: Skream If You Want To Go Faster

Ollie Jones, AKA Skream, can lay claim to being there at the very start of the dubstep phenomenon. At the age of 14, he was producing deep, brooding, tech-y beats, before moving to his current home on respected dubstep originators Tempa. "I originally started on Big Apple," reminisces Skream. "For me, it all started when I was working in a record shop – that was when it really started to evolve."

Talk of evolution crops up more than once in our discussion. You get the sense that Skream is a man who enjoys watching things in flux and motion: "I'm always trying to do something different or new. My tracks have evolved to be more musical, and I've gotten a lot better at engineering – like any producer, I'm just trying to construct my own sound." Soon after he began his musical journey, he hooked up with Tempa players Benga and Hatcha at the Forward> nights, and his releases on Big Apple were characterised by a dark, moody, atmospheric sound. Over the course of his 3-volume (thus far) Skreamizm series, he has displayed a remarkable diversity of textures and influences, constantly pushing boundaries. "Volume 4 is finished, there's one last drop on one of the tracks I need to fix, and then it's ready. It's another six-tracker, because that's what I set out to do – show versatility. I just have so much music here, releasing extended EPs is a better way to get it all out. When I was releasing 12"s, I found that by the time I had something released I had so much more new stuff that the releases felt old. So the Skreamizm EPs are a chance to get a burst of music out."

Tempa releases are often charcterised by their attack and energy, marking them as a solidly dancefloor-oriented dubstep label. Skream argues once more that their sound has simply evolved: "Originally, the Tempa sound was a lot deeper, but we've moved with the sound. The early Horsepower Productions records were a lot deeper. It was headstrong music. It still is headstrong, but it's changed with the scene. I don't think there's ever going to be a set template for dubstep, that's the nice thing about it. You can go to a dubstep night and hear five DJs, and they all play completely different sets. I think the term dubstep came about just because it was the best way to describe it, but some of it has no relevance to dub. I think it's just the instrumental part that carries that association. I just play what I play – it's all around the same tempo, and the majority of it is stuff by dubstep producers, and a lot of my own stuff. So it's definitely always a dubstep set, but I try and vary the influences as much as I can."

Skream comes to Edinburgh's finest dubstep / mashup night, Volume! for an exclusive night at The Bongo Club on Friday 12th October, and he's very much looking forward to seeing the Edinburgh crew show some appreciation: "I love playing outside of London – I've been in the scene since the very beginning, so I've seen the clubs changing. Now you go out to play and it's totally different vibes. In London, you're very spoilt for choice for music – so when you play in London, it's just a regular gig. When you go abroad, or play elsewehere in the UK, it's more special, you're a bit more wanted. Not a lot of places have the same choice of music as London – you could go out there and listen to any sort of music you like on any given night. A lot of places don't have that, so everyone will go to hear you because it's different."

I ask if he's looking forward to hearing the dubstep coming out of Scotland, from the likes of Rustie, Gravious and others. He's excited at the spread of dubstep across the UK, and offers this advice: "I think the important thing with it is that it has to be original. You can't just copy someone, and then get that status. You have to be original. As long as producers keep those ethics, it will be cool."